We're not really mad geniuses. We're just a little miffed

Posts by Dorothy Grant

What is a second-order consequence? Well, a first-order consequence is the immediate consequence of a decision, usually the desired outcome. The second-order consequences are the ones that are separated by time and space from the first order, and if you’re not thinking things through, are usually “Unintended consequences.” And, to be fair, even if you think things through, it’s impossible to account for how everything interacts – so there are always unintended consequences, though they may be years or decades down the road, and classified as third and fourth-order consequences…

As readers, and as writers, we’re all in this for a good story. And sometimes your fans want the story behind the creation of the story, or “the making of.” Sometimes this is fun and cute, like the romance novelist who blocked when writing at home, and found her inspiration while waiting for an oil change at Tires, Tires, Tires. (After the sixth oil change from a friend’s car, the guys knew something was up… and they made her their author-in-residence!)

Sometimes, the story is tragic, defiant, and heart-tugging, like the story behind Sakura: Intellectual Property by Zach Hill ( and Patrick M Tracy & Paul Genesse )

My lungs are trying to pitch an insurrection about having to work all the time, so I’m a wee bit distracted these last few months. Right now we’re having fun with medication… by the way, were you aware when you can’t breathe well, it’s really hard to be creative? Stay healthier than me!

So I give you some links I haven’t posted since 2016, because some of you will see these for the first time – and some of you will have seen these before, but with a few years more of writing under your belt, you’re likely to find a whole different set of meaning and advice than the first time. Good advice is multilayered like that! Read more

I should know; I flunked out of rocket science as a major, but I manage to do okay at writing blurbs!

Consider the following a basic primer in blurb writing; I am no master or guru, but while all my author friends are putting out their 5th or 15th story, I am putting out my 35th blurb attached to it. And with enough practice, you can get skilled at something. Read more

Or, how can you tell how good your work is… or isn’t? All artists, no matter what the medium, tend to be pretty aware of the phenomenon of looking at their work and going “This is awesome! Just as good as the bestsellers, if not better by leaps and bounds!” Also, they’re aware of looking at their work and going “This is the worst thing ever! I need to hide this in a nuclear waste dump, lest it contaminate the very electrons desecrated with its presence!” In fact, most of us can cycle through both of these viewpoints multiple times on the exact same piece of work.

This is normal. I can’t tell you how to stop doing that, but I can offer some insights on how to mitigate it, and how to get better anyway. Read more

Good morning; It’s Dec 30. Before you get distracted by New Year’s Eve preparations, please remember to pull out all your record-keeping files and folders, and create duplicates for 2019 – this way it’s easy, as the new year rings in, to start your recordkeeping on the correct foot even as you wrap up the last paperwork for 2018. This will also give you a little breathing room to consider if you want to change your record keeping, as well as split or combine any categories / files / folders to better reflect changes in your business over the last year (and anticipated changes coming up.) Read more

LTUE – Life, The Universe, & Everything – is a symposium in Utah every February by writers for writers. Unlike Comic Cons where panels are likely to on costuming, and literary cons where the panels are by authors for readers, LTUE panels cover things like “writing action” and “balancing the books”, and “boring beginnings” and things like that.